Tips on how to throw a chic backyard bohemian dinner party

When it comes to celebrating, I will be the first to tell you… DO SOMETHING. Big or small, just create a moment! I’m the friend that will have a birthday celebration every year, the one that will have a a party for a make-believe-day like, Galentine’s and of course, go in for the holidays! Having people together over good food, conversation, and thoughtful details is my type of celebration, it doesn’t take much!

Its a celebration!

I had the pleasure of planning, and decorating my sister, Tina’s 30th birthday party! I was so excited about her boho garden theme, because Tina and I have been wanting to execute this idea for a while now. A group of her friends come together to throw a birthday bash for each others 30th, so of course I had to join in on all of the fun with the #partycrew!

We didn’t have much to work with, all we knew was the theme; boho garden, with an intimate dinner for 40 guest! Here’s how we put everything together:

Location

Creating a bohemian garden party first starts with finding the perfect location. We needed a venue that had a large backyard, accompanied with a kitchen, and lush greenery surrounding the party space. We lucked up on a venue that was next door to the Emu Ranch in East Atlanta Village. The venue was an Airbnb and they were great! By being located next to the Emu Ranch, we had peacocks roaming around creating for the perfect backdrop!

Decor

The party decor took shape around a low 30ft wooden table. We knew to create the boho vibe we had to be seated on the floor. Creating the table required pallets/wooden crates that we scored from Craigslist for free! And we purchased the wood plank from Home Depot which were 3/8″ thickness. Surrounding the table were rugs, blankets and lots of pillows. This is the part of the decor process that can easily get expensive. We knew in advance that we needed a lot of pillows and rugs to create the look, so we started well in advance to collect items from thrift stores, estates sales, and Facebook Marketplace. For a care-free eclectic boho look, we had a mix of rich colors– which thrown together looked nice.

For the table, we rented dinnerware from TLC Rents, which is my go-to for party rental whenever I have an event! For the florals, we purchased from Trader Joe’s, and kept it simple with roses in blush tones, eucalyptus, baby’s breath, and some foliage from my very own backyard (gotta keep costs low :)! Our runner was blush tulle, and this helped to soften the wooden table. We purchased gold candle holders from eBay and had candles going down the table to create a moody ambiance. For all of the signage, I found an Etsy shop, and all we had to do was download the template, edit and print at a local print shop!

With it being summer time the menu had to reflect that. We kept it light with a citrus berry salad, and tapa styled the dinner selections to include items such as smoked salmon dill and capers bruschetta, basalmic glazed Brussel sprouts, Filipino lumpia, and chicken kabobs. To keep costs low we had select friends make the food. For the drinks, we had a Prosecco bar and a signature cocktail that of course went with the color scheme.

Last but definitely not least, a bohemian dinner party requires you to Dress the Part. Make sure the invitations reflect the vibe and ambiance that you are trying to create. Keep it chic!